


The Gladiator Games

by RedPandaPrincess



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 09:31:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12009930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedPandaPrincess/pseuds/RedPandaPrincess
Summary: A short fic set during the time when the Hirogen had control of Voyager and was forcing the crew to participate in bloody games.





	The Gladiator Games

**Author's Note:**

> Set during ancient Rome. Karr is the Hirogen leader, Turanj is his second in command. Anna is Seven, Katrina is the Captain, Cato is Chakotay, Todor is Tuvok, Hilarion is Harry, and Thom is Tom.

Anna was a slave for the Roman empire and had been her entire 20-something years of life. From the time she was six her job had been to feed the lions and bears the Emperor sometimes pit against the gladiators. As a result, she was fearless as she entered the lioness' cage with a basket of meat.

She brought herself to her full 6 foot height and growled at the lion, letting her know who was boss. The lioness, who was called Cassia, had been here three seasons. She knew the drill. Though she had been victorious against countless armored men, killed dozens, the massive cat merely blinked sedately at the thin blonde girl. She knew this was where her food came from.

Anna dumped the basket of meat and scraps into the lioness' bowl. AS Cassia crossed the cage, Anna backed away then turned and left, the sound of bones crunching in the cat's powerful jaws behind her.

Anna finished her chores, feeding the bear and two male lions. There was a tiger who was fairly new. Anna kept a sword in hand as she entered the cage. She growled threateningly. When the tiger lunged she hit the beast hard with the flat side of the blade.

“Back, if you want food, fool,” she told him.

The tiger let out a low growl and backed against the cage bars. Anna dumped the food and hurried out of the cage before the big cat started eating.

When she finished feeding the animals she went to the stable to watch the new group of gladiators get ready. These were slaves brought from a far city, to fight the reigning champion Turanj.

Anna had met them last night. She'd been responsible for arranging their dinner and she had gotten to know these new slaves. A pasty-faced boy named Thom. An olive-skinned boy named Hilarion. These two she held little hope for. But the brown-skinned man Cato had muscles. And the darker man, Todor, she had hope for as well. He had brains on top of muscles. If slaves were allowed to bet, Anna would have bet on him.

“I've never even held a sword,” Hilarion said as Thom helped him put on some of the armor that was provided for them.

“just try to block any fatal strokes and hope they don't put you against any beasts,” Thom said.

“They had me feed them already so you're safe...from the animals, anyway,” Anna said. “If Emperor Karr planned to use the beasts against you, he would not have had me feed them today.”

“Well that's a relief,” Hilarion said.

“just pray he doesn't put you up against Turanj. He's bloodthirsty. He aims every stroke to kill.”

The boy paled and Thom clapped his shoulder reassuringly.

“They won't put us against someone like that on our first bout,” he told his friend. “right Anna?”

“Depends on the emperor's mood,” Anna said truthfully.

Thom and Cato frowned at her.

“She speaks the truth. Emperor Karr is not prone to logic,” said Todor.

“If he had a bad day – which could be something as minor as his eggs were under cooked – there's no telling what he might do,” Anna said. “There are a lot of champions but Turanj is the one you have to look out for. He is the most deadly.”

“Thank you for the advice,” Todor said.

Anna left them and went to the front of the stables to tend to the horses. It was where soldiers on horseback waited to drag the losers from the arena. It was the only place Anna was allowed to watch the games. She wasn't allowed in the stands.

When the games began, Anna looked up to where the emperor sat. Her stomach flipped when she saw his beautiful wife, the red-headed Katrina. She wore a gorgeous white and blue dress and a gold tiara in her hair. This was Anna's favorite part of the games. She hated the bloodshed, but for some reason she didn't understand she loved seeing the empress. Just the sight of her made Anna feel as if everything would be okay.

When the games began, a door opened, revealing Thom and Hilarion.

 _Oh no_ , Anna thought.

The door opposite opened and Anna didn't have to look to know it was Turanj. Emperor Karr must have had a bad morning.

The boys didn't last two minutes against Turanj. Anna couldn't bear to look as the boys were slaughtered. She saw Katrina's look of disgust as well. The empress whispered something to her husband, who sneered back at her.

Cato was the next one out. He lasted a little longer, dealing heavy blows to Turanj. Anna noticed Katrina was cheering for Cato, so she joined in as well. Unfortunately, the man's defense was poor, and Turanj cut him down.

Finally they sent out Todor. Anna felt anxious, clenching her firsts tightly as she watched Todor dodging Turanj's blows skillfully. She didn't want to see Todor die too. The pointy-eared man swung his blade swiftly. He was even stronger than he looked, dealing damage where he could to the Hirogen. But Turanj was too strong. Anna knew he was going to win. She glanced up at Katrina to see her still cheering to Todor.

Hardly thinking, Anna rushed back to the pile of swords and armor. She grabbed a helmet and pushed it down over her blonde hair. She snatched up a sword and rushed out onto the field.

At first the citizens in the stands booed as she came to Todor's aid, blocking Turanj's fatal stroke with her blade. His eyes widened in surprise, but immediately he focused his attentions on trying to kill her.

Anna met each stroke of his sword with her own. Eventually the crowd was cheering for her, Katrina was cheering for her. Anna's heart was pounding. She knew this was life or death, but all she could think was Katrina was cheering for _her_.

Her distraction was enough for Turanj to get an advantage and knock her to the ground. She was able to react quickly enough that his blow was a glancing one, cutting the shoulder of her non-dominant arm.

“Ha! You are weak prey,” Turanj gloated as blood poured from the cut. Anna acted wounded, letting her sword fall as she fell to the ground, grabbing her arm.

“Your bones will make a fine trophy for my quarters,” Turanj said, raising his sword to behead her, as she knew he would

Anna moved quickly, grabbing the dagger from her tunic. With a growl she lunged forward and plunged the blade into Turanj's neck. She leapt back, grabbing her sword and moving out of reach. Her mark had been true, however. Blood gurgled from his mouth, his eyes went wide, and Turanj fell.

There were cheers all around and Anna looked up. Katrina was looking directly at her, cheering. Their eyes met briefly and the empress smiled broadly at her. Anna's heart skipped a beat.

_Those eyes. There's something so familiar about those gray eyes...and that smile. I'd kill a thousand warriors to make her smile like that at me._

 

 

Anna was a champion now. She was no longer a slave. A feast was thrown for her and hundreds of people came to meet her. She ate and drank indulgently, as she had never been allowed. She had never even seen so much food before.

They expected her to fight again tomorrow. After a while they showed her to the champion's quarters. They left her alone in a magnificent bedchamber, adorned with beautiful red silks.

Anna found a bath waiting for her and she slipped into it eagerly. She'd never had a warm bath before. It was luxury she wanted to indulge in at least once if she were going to die soon. She found the bath relaxing and she was almost asleep when there was a knock at the door.

She got out of the tub and wrapped herself in a towel, expecting it was a house slave coming to see if she needed anything.

“Come in,” she called, sitting on the edge of the bed.

The door opened and Anna nearly fainted when she saw the empress.

“Empress,” she gasped, standing up.

“Call me Katrina,” the redhead said.

Her voice was low, husky, and as beautiful as she was.

“I wanted to compliment you personally on your victory against Turanj,” Katrina said, sitting on the edge of the bed and motioning for her to sit as well. “I never liked him.”

“W-well you're welcome,” Anna said. She couldn't believe Katrina was really here, sitting beside her on a bed of red silk.

“Your name is Anna, isn't it? You take care of the lions.”

“You know me.”

“I've noticed you.”

“You've noticed me,” she repeated faintly.

“Yes. There's something about you, Anna,” Katrina said, touching her cheek. “Your eyes...your lips...”

Katrina's fingers touched her lips gently and Anna kissed her fingertips. The empress gasped softly and pulled the girl into her lap to kiss her.

 

Kathryn Janeway gasped and ended the playback on the file. It had taken the crew of Voyager nearly a month to put together the recreations of what had been done to them on the Holodeck. As captain, Kathryn felt obligated to watch every bloody recreation, to know what had happened to her crew, but this...this was wholly unexpected.

 _Seven...Seven has already seen this_ , the captain realized. _She must be so confused._

Kathryn left the Holodeck but not before deleting the file.

 

The Captain entered Cargo Bay 2 to find Seven working at her console.

“Captain,” she greeted, then paused her work. “You have been watching the recreations. How many have you viewed?”

“12,” she said, trying to swallow the butterflies she felt.

“The Roman Gladiator simulation.”

“You've seen it?”

“Yes.”

“Are you- Do you want to talk about what-”

“Captain,” the Borg said, approaching her.

“Seven?”

“I have noticed you,” she said, and pulled Kathryn to her for a kiss.

The kiss was searing and made her weak in the knees. She gripped the front of Seven's biosuit. When the kiss ended, Kathryn smiled dazedly.

“Did you delete the file?” Seven asked.

“Yes.”

“What about the others?”

“Others?”

“There are 8 simulations where we kiss, 6 of which end with us copulating. Would you like me to delete them?”

“As Captain I should see all of the files. Would you like to come watch them with me?”

“Of course,” Seven said and Kathryn kissed her again.

 

THE END

 


End file.
